7 replies to this topic

[Joshaeus]

Well...any tips? I have a trio of Aphyosemion striatum killies that have stubbornly refused to breed...I suspect they are sterile, but that still makes me paranoid that I will fail with ANY egglayer I try.

 

As for bluefins, I was considering moving a female to a small (about 1.5 gallon) planted kritter keeper, feeding her heavily for about a week, adding the male for a few days, and then removing them. About a week after adding the male, I would start adding infusoria to the tank once a day, and about a week after that start with BBS. See any flaws with this idea?

[Sean Phillips]

For me, I threw a male and female in a 10 gallon bin in front of a window on my house with a bunch of think hornwort and a spawning mop and I had fry in a few weeks feeding them frozen food twice a day. Regular weekly water changes and natural light. Temp running about 76-80°. White pea gravel substrate.

[Kanus]

I have 8 or 10 bluefins in a tank with some Pteronotropis and last weekend I tried my hand at making spawning mops for the first time. As of last night, I've picked 10 eggs out of the mop and the first one hatched earlier today. I don't know if maybe the Pteronotropis are eating some of the eggs before I get to them, but if I get 10 eggs/week I think that'll be just fine with me.

[Kanus]

To answer your question though, I don't see anything wrong with your plan, but if you're looking to raise larger numbers of fry, you may want to remove the eggs and rear the fry separately like I'm planning so you don't have to keep moving the adults around, and that way you'll know for sure that you're going to have fry.

[DPFW]

I worked in a lab for 5 years that bred Bluefin killifish and I did an experiment with them that required me to get their eggs.  They are really easy to breed.  They were on a 12L:12D light cycle or maybe 14L:10D cycle.  We never checked water temperatures but it was around 70-80 F.  We used spawning mops made of yarn and put some on the bottom of the tank and some floating at the top, but it shouldn't matter if you only had one position (they laid eggs in both). We've used tanks as small as 10 gallons and as large as 30.  We've done it in pairs or in larger groups and it didn't matter, although I would recommend keeping them at a roughly even sex ratio (if it's not 50-50, I would put in more females than males).  Bigger males and females are best. 

 

They WILL eat the eggs, so if you're looking for lots of eggs then I would recommend checking the spawning substrates and removing the eggs within 1-2 hours after the lights come on.  There is also definitely a little of a seaonality effect, even if they aren't exposed to natural light.  The main egg production was from about April - October, although they do breed year round (might just get less eggs on any given day).

 

If you have questions or want more information feel free to PM me.

[Joshaeus]

Are the eggs particularly difficult to see? What will I be looking for? (A size comparison would be most helpful)

[Kanus]

Poppy seed sized, roughly. Hold your mops under a bright light and they are amazingly easy to see: yellow reflective bubbles the size of poppy seeds. I have floating mops long enough to touch the bottom, and all my eggs have been right near the bottom of the mop.

Thanks for the tip about harvesting eggs in the morning. I'll have to try that and see how many more I find.

[DPFW]

That size sounds about right.  They are clear or maybe a little off-white in color.  I found it easy to help me find them through feeling them when I was first learning.  Our spawning substrates were green yarn and I would run my finger through the yarn and I'd feel small, hard "bumps" (in comparison to the soft yarn).  The bumps are the eggs.  

 

Just an FYI- sometimes the eggs are in large clumps (which makes it easier to see and feel) and sometimes they're more scattered (one here, one there...).  They sometimes have a sticky thread on them so when you pull on them to take them off of the spawning substrate don't be surprised if you see it dangling from a thread.